Is this really a Game?!

“Huh, damn it, I need to move quickly.” Beast finishes with the bandage as he looks around himself. He could hear the shrieks of monsters from a distance and the hums of bushes as some nearby monsters were slowly approaching his location. He clutches the bow with his hand as he jumps from his tree towards another one.

The nearby monsters immediately move towards him, not wanting to let their newfound prey escape. Beast runs and jumps as fast as he could, but he was already fatigued after spending many hours in the forest battling monsters and other contestants. His wounds made him feel pain as he moved, he was going as fast as he could, but he could still hear the footsteps of the monster coming closer.

He suddenly turns around with an arrow notched on his bow, he releases a couple of arrows at multiple locations while immediately turning around and continuing forward.

Exploding Arrows.

Barrage

All of the arrows suddenly explode as a huge dust cloud was formed at the points of impact. The barrage version of the exploding arrows was a skill Beast had made quite recently, right after his first trial. The knowledge he gained from the mark allowed him to think of other ways to use his skills, this was one of the things he managed to comprehend. The skill was in essence a simple one, by using the power of wind he was able to increase the speed of his arms by a couple of margins while simultaneously increasing the speed by which he channeled mana.

The arrows were in turn able to be shot out many times faster than usual. In a mere 1.4 seconds, Beast had shot out 6 exploding arrows. The drawback of the skill was a simple one, the amount of mana needed to use it was incredible and Beast was already feeling a bit exhausted because of it.

However, the advantage of the skill was obvious as well. If a single enemy was the target of so many exploding arrows then the enemy would find it incredibly hard to dodge or block all of them, as even after doing that the arrows would explode and deal damage. In his current situation, the arrows were able to stop multiple beasts from continuing to follow him, he was now only sensing 3 following after him. He grits his teeth as he summons his two wind wolves, he commands them to go towards the sides, in the hopes of drawing the monster away from him.

The strategy works and Beast was now only left with one monster following him. After 10 minutes of running away, Beast was able to get back to the previous part of the forest where the monsters were of a lower level. He stops as the monster suddenly jumps from behind him in an attempt to kill him.

Bam!

A black shadow suddenly bites the neck of the monster from above. It was Blackie who was summoned by Beast mere moments ago as he had anticipated the monster attacking him immediately after stopping. Blackie managed to surprise the monster as his teeth plunged in deep inside his flesh. Beast was finally able to see the monster that had chased after him for so long.

The slick, black, muscular body of the monster was twisting on the ground as it tried to get Blackie off from it. The 3-meter long monster tried biting and scratching Blackie to no avail. Its long tail whooshes through the air as the nearby grass was blown away.

Beast notches another arrow as he aims at the big, black panther that was twisting on the ground. His arrow shines bright green as he tries to hit the monster’s head. The panther notices it and immediately tries moving away while ignoring the black wolf that was still clinging to his side. Blackie notices the movement of the panther as he immediately uses his dark claws to attack the panther.

The panther screams in pain as his stomach gets multiple deep cuts from Blackie’s attack. Blackie again capitalizes on the panther’s strange movement as he suddenly lets go of it before plunging his teeth at another spot near the panther’s neck. He used his dark fang skill again as his teeth bite deeply inside of the panther.

The panther suddenly collapses on the ground before Beast narrows his eyes down and releases his arrow. The green wind arrow pierces through the panther’s temple as the monster finally stops moving. Beast releases a sigh of relief as he de-summons Blackie before going back towards the contest area. Some 10 minutes later Beast was back, most of the contestants were back as well as the contest had finished 5 minutes ago. .

They all waited some more time for more people to arrive before the contest judge made his way on top of the platform. Beast was able to spot Goldilocks with the other contestants as well, the man was staring daggers at Beast as his eyes were full of hate. He dared not do anything now though, as every time Beast would glance in his direction he would turn his head around in fear, he still remembered how Beast had massacred all of his henchmen before dragging him through the forest.

As Beast had expected, he was the winner, he was surprised though to see that second place was incredibly close to him. If he hadn’t killed the last monster that pursued him for so long he wouldn’t have lost. Looking at the side Beast could see the woman he had previously seen in the forest. She was the runner-up for the contest, she was also looking at him, clearly surprised to see that there was someone with a higher score than her.

Beast smiles at her as he takes the prize. In a couple of seconds, he was teleported out, his trial was done.

Wolf stood behind rocks as he looked at two armies fighting against each other. He had spent the last couple of days running around the battlefield saving soldiers from the allied army while also taking out enemy outposts and officers. Most of the allies were saved and some rejoined the main army while others decided to join him in helping the others out. The two armies were now fighting the final battle, the allies were outnumbered, but only by a small margin. Wolf was planning on attacking the enemy from the side, letting his troops flank them while he went towards the general.

If he manages to kill the general then the battle was over, the enemy army’s morale will plummet and victory will be in their grasp. That however was not an easy task as the general was of course guarded. His private troop was in front of him while a couple of bodyguards were around him.

He stood on a tall wooden platform, overlooking the battlefield. Wolf made a team from the people he had saved, five elite soldiers were going to charge towards the general with him, their task will be to take on the bodyguards while he takes care of the general. It won’t be easy however as a troop of 200 elite soldiers was guarding the man, the elites were of course not as strong as the five in Wolf’s team, they were merely the weakest type of elites, while Wolf was accompanied by five who were close to being mini-boss tier.

As the armies fought more fiercely Wolf and his troops emerge from the side. The enemy army had slightly passed them and it was the perfect opportunity to attack them. Wolf first charges together with them, the chaos that will ensue after their clash should be reason enough for the general to risk it all and send his private troop to help out, similar to what the allied general did, the was also the only reason they were managing to fight evenly so far.

Wolf’s 500 men attack as the enemy army’s formation crumbles before they even arrived. The soldiers were terrified of the enemies that suddenly charged at them from the sides as some tried retreating deeper in the formation in hopes of surviving the initial clash.

Wolf lifts his sword high in the air as flames start burning around it. With a slash he sends the flames forward, igniting some of the enemy soldiers from afar. By the time they arrived at the enemy Wolf had already sent 4 more slashes out and most of the fire was now gone as the enemies worked hard to put it out.

The troop clashes with the enemy army and their formation crumble again. Wolf and the other elites were in the front as they slashed apart their enemies. The general was now standing on the platform as he looked at the situation with a pale face, he immediately orders his private troop to charge forward and help the army. His bodyguards and aides try to stop him, as such a tactic was too dangerous but he doesn’t listen, he knew that if they lose now then the war will be over. Their many outposts were mostly destroyed and the high-ranking officers were dead. He was only left with a handful of them and other parts of his army were scattered around, there was not enough time to call them all back and rejoin forces.

The battle here was supposed to be an easy one. The enemy was outnumbered and their army was in a worse state compared to them, they were supposed to win without much difficulty, but fate had another plan as now he was witnessing his army losing.

His private troop, led by the captain charges forward to attack Wolf and his soldiers and help their allies out. The captain was looking at Wolf with eyes full of fighting spirit. Wolf notices his glance and smiles slightly, the plan was successful and it was only a matter of time before he would take the general’s head.